CUNYAC Men's Volleyball - 2002 CUNYAC / State Farm Championship

Top Three Seeds Advance to The Semifinals

BRONX, NY - The teams are set for the 2002 CUNY Athletic Conference / State Farm Men’s Volleyball Champi-onship after today’s quarterfinal matches at Lehman College in the Bronx. The Championship match will follow the two semifinal matches on Friday night, April 5th, at Lehman College. Admission to the games, as always, is free.

#1 CCNY defeated #9 John Jay 30-12, 30-18, 30-17

Two-time CUNYAC Player of the Year Owen Niles (Brooklyn, NY) had 10 kills and three blocks for CCNY (20-3), as the Beavers advanced to the semifinals on Friday with a 30-12, 30-18, 30-17 win over John Jay. Freshman Sebastien Hoffman (Leipzig, Germany) had seven kills and three aces for the Beavers, the #11 ranked team in Division III. Senior OH Andre Patnett (Bronx, NY) had 5 kills and freshman Josue Perez (Bronx, NY) had 8 digs for John Jay, who finishes at 4-18 on the season.

#2 Lehman defeated #7 Baruch 30-14, 30-15, 30-16

Lehman’s standout freshman Alejandro Flores (Moca, Dominican Republic) led the Lightning (25-2) with 14 kills and six digs, along with sophomore all-star Troy Jimenez’ (Queens, NY) 17 assists and eight kills, en route to a 30-14, 30-15, 30-16 win over Baruch. The #7 seeded Statesmen (5-14) were led by senior Ioannis Michaelides (Paphos, Cyprus) with seven kills and 10 assists.

#3 Hunter defeated #6 Brooklyn 30-16, 30-28 , 30-17

Hunter, the defending champions, booked a return to the semifinals with a 30-16, 30-28, 30-17 win over #6 Brook-lyn in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Senior OH Justin Stack (New York, NY) had 10 kills, while junior setter Ray Bello (Bronx, NY) had 34 assists. The Bridges (5-14) were paced by freshman OH Genri Privalov (Brooklyn, NY) with 9 kills. The Hawks (16-8) will face the host school, Lehman in a rematch of the 2001 final on Friday at 5:00 pm.

#5 NY City Tech defeated #4 Medgar Evers 30-28, 30-32, 30-17, 30-17

#5 seeded City Tech (9-10) was led by freshman OH Eder Mathelier (Brooklyn, NY) with 27 kills and 12 digs, while setter Jian Zhong Chen (New York, NY) had 37 assists, as they qualified for the semifinals for the third time in five years with a four set victory 30-28, 30-32, 30-17, 30-17 over Medgar Evers. Sophomore Irwin Pascal (Dominica) led Medgar Evers with 16 kills and 16 digs, with teammate Andre Edwin (Grenada) adding 21 kills and 14 digs, as the Cougars dropped to 13-10.

CUNYAC Men's Volleyball - 2002 CUNYAC / State Farm All-Stars

Flores Tabbed Player of The Year

BRONX, NY - The following student-athletes were named to the 2002 CUNYAC All-Star team by a poll of the conference coaches, as they prepare for the conclusion of the CUNYAC Tournament on Friday night, April 5th at Lehman College.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - ALEJANDRO FLORES, LEHMAN COLLEGE

Alejandro Flores, a 6’7 freshman hitter from Lehman College, who was named CUNYAC Player of the Week three times this season and Rookie of the Week four times, narrowly defeated CCNY’s Owen Niles for the conference’s Player of the Year award. Flores, a native of Moca, Dominican Republic, who resides in the Bronx, tallied 5.18 kills per game, hitting .670, along with 1.40 blocks and 0.54 service aces a game.

“Alejandro has all the skills, he can hit, pass and serve,” said Lehman head coach Junior Garcia. “It’s a credit to his ability that he beat Niles for this award after Niles has won it the last two years.”

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - SEBASTIAN HOFFMAN, CITY COLLEGE

Sebastian Hoffman, a freshman hitter from Leipzig, Germany was named the leagues’ Rookie of the Year assisting in the Beavers run to the CUNYAC Regular Season title. A 6’7 rookie at CCNY, he averaged 3.73 kills, hitting at a .505 clip, and 2.20 blocks a game for CCNY.

“Sebastien is a positive injection to our team,” said CCNY head coach Robert Pichardo. “His positive attitude and chemistry with the team is something we sorely needed this season to be successful.”

ALL-CUNY FIRST TEAM

Owen Niles, CCNY Jr. 6’7 OH Barbados / Brooklyn, NY
Max Valerio, Lehman Fr. 6’2 MB Puerto Plata / Dominican Rep.
Justin Stack, Hunter Sr. 6’0 OH Humanities / New York, NY
Troy Jimenez, Lehman So. 6’3 MH Las Minas, DR / Queens, NY
Irwin Pascal, Medgar Evers So. 5’9 OH St. Mary’s / Dominica
Rohan Lewis, NY City Tech So. 6’1 OH/S 7th Day Advent. / Barbados

ALL-CUNY SECOND TEAM

Welmer Magtoto, CCNY Sr. 5’5 S Newtown / Queens, NY
Alfred Daos, Hunter So. 5’9 OH Long Beach / Long Beach, NY
Adam Wysocki, Brooklyn So. 5’10 OH South Shore / Brooklyn, NY
Ray Bello, Hunter Jr. 5’6 S Clinton / Bronx, NY
Felix Gamez, Lehman So. 6’0 OH Honduras / New Rochelle, NY
Igor Meystelman, John Jay Sr. 6’3 OH Madison / Brooklyn, NY